Spatial Concept Perspectives

We have gathered ~300 excerpts from published works about fundamental spatial concept terms. These have been cross-referenced with the concept lexicon appearing on the left. Those terms were drawn from the U.S.National Science Education Standards (NSES 1996) for topic areas B - Physical Science, C - Life Science, D - Earth and Space Science, as well as from the 1994 U.S. Geography Teaching Standards for grades 9-12. Those standards can be browsed here.

spatial concept terms

disciplinary perspectives on "representation"

external representation

The space of external representations...is invented, created in order to enhance human cognition. It uses space and spatial relations to represent both inherently spatial relations, as in maps and architectural drawings, and metaphorically spatial relations, as in flow diagrams, organizational charts, and economic graphs (p 16). (Such) external cognitive tools function to extend the powers of the mind by offloading memory and computation (p 16).

Psychology

Tversky (2005)

Functional Significance of Visuospatial Representations

representation

Create a spatialized way to present data or information (p. 92)

Geography

Golledge, et al. (2008)

Matching geospatial concepts with geographic educational needs